{"id":30155,"date":"2016-08-12T16:36:28","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T06:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=30155"},"modified":"2016-08-12T16:36:41","modified_gmt":"2016-08-12T06:36:41","slug":"alex-varkatzas-atreyu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2016\/08\/alex-varkatzas-atreyu\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Varkatzas of Atreyu"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Atreyu2015\"<\/a>
\n\u201cYou know Atreyu exists right now basically to kick ass and take names, so we\u2019re gonna kick ass and take names when we come down there, like every show we play I feel like we\u2019ve got something to prove or I\u2019ve got something to prove to re-establish ourselves to be a force to be reckoned with.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Release: No strangers to our shores,\u00a0ATREYU\u00a0will be bringing their trademark crushing riffs to the party. The Orange County pioneers returned to the fray last year, releasing their first LP in six years, the triumphant\u00a0‘Long Live’<\/em>, which Heavy Magazine branded\u00a0‘the essential Atreyu record’<\/em>.\u00a0The adored act have recently hit the road to mark a decade since the release of their huge\u00a0‘A Death-Grip on Yesterday’<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>album. They’ll be mining their extensive back catalogue to the great excitement of local fans.<\/p>\n

After he finished stacking his fridge we chatted with Alex of Atreyu about the band\u2019s upcoming return to Australia in November, new music, bucket lists and more\u2026<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve toured with Bullet For My Valentine here before back in 2008 but are heading back this November with them, in those eight years a lot has happened with Atreyu, what can we expect from this band on this run?<\/strong>
\nYou know Atreyu exists right now basically to kick ass and take names, so we\u2019re gonna kick ass and take names when we come down there, like every show we play I feel like we\u2019ve got something to prove or I\u2019ve got something to prove to re-establish ourselves to be a force to be reckoned with. I also feel better than I\u2019ve ever felt being in this band, I play harder than I\u2019ve ever played, I think we all realise with those years came the reality of how blessed and how lucky we are to do what we do. So every time I step up to the plate I try to knock it out of the park.<\/p>\n

Do you still throw a bit on Bon Jovi in the set?<\/strong>
\nI vote against it but I lose every time, so I\u2019m sure you will *laughs*<\/p>\n

What do you remember from that last tour with the guys?<\/strong>
\nNot very much, I smoked a lot of Australian weed\u2026 no\u2026 I\u2019m kidding *laughs* I remember the shows were awesome, huge shows with Bullet and Avenged (Sevenfold) I believe, man I\u2019ve been to Australia numerous times and it\u2019s one of my favourite places to tour, my wife Holly and I went there on our honeymoon several years ago so it\u2019s hard for me to keep track of all the times I\u2019ve been Down Under.<\/p>\n

Australian audiences have always loved you guys, and I saw that first hand at Soundwave last year, what do you think it is about Atreyu that Australian audiences attach to?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know man, if I knew I\u2019d try to tap into it even more *laughs* but I feel like people connect with us because we\u2019re just dudes trying to give 100%, there\u2019s really no rock star airs about us anymore, we just shoot from the hip these days and I think people respect that. When e go out there we want to have fun, we\u2019re not worried, we\u2019re not pretentious, we don\u2019t give a fuck we just wanna rock and I think people miss that aspect of rock music, it\u2019s very like, I don\u2019t know, I don\u2019t wanna say people playing dress up and interpret that whichever way you want, but for a lot of people playing dress up I don\u2019t need that shit I can go out there and make people go crazy with just a microphone. I think we\u2019re very what you see is what you get, like if I\u2019m having a bad day and you encounter me I might be an asshole, I\u2019m just a normal fuckin dude. If I\u2019m having a good day and I\u2019m positive then I\u2019m stoked and usually I have great days and I\u2019m so lucky to get to do what I do but I\u2019m just putting it out there, we\u2019re just trying to be dudes because we are dudes, we\u2019re not Metallica, we\u2019re not Bullet For My Valentine even, we\u2019re just dudes who play music and this is what we\u2019ve done, this is what we\u2019ll always do.<\/p>\n

After the hiatus and now being back in full swing is it fair to say that you guys have completely found your footing and are ready to keep it rolling?<\/strong>
\nOh yeah, completely, I think after the first couple of shows we realised that this was a blast and we\u2019re gonna keep it rolling until it\u2019s not a blast anymore, but hopefully we would figure out what was bumming us out before we got to that point.<\/p>\n

Of course we had \u2018Long Live\u2019 out last year, has that lit a bit of a fire under the band and can we expect newer music sooner rather than later?<\/strong>
\nI think we\u2019re gonna take around nine years to write the next one but it\u2019ll be really good I promise\u2026 *laughs* I\u2019m just kidding. I think we\u2019re looking at starting stuff, we\u2019re always kind of writing but I think we\u2019ll start a little bit more seriously towards the beginning of next year. We\u2019ll start working on a new record.<\/p>\n

Well \u2018Long Live\u2019 was a kick ass record so keep it up!<\/strong>
\nHey thank you so much, man, we all talked beforehand about wanting to make probably one of our most uncompromising records to date, and on purpose kind of. We didn\u2019t want to come back and just have a bunch of like poppier songs or catchy, we were just feeling aggressive and heavy at that point, so it was fun to do.<\/p>\n

Has being back together opened up opportunities of touring places you haven\u2019t yet seen?<\/strong>
\nA little bit here and there but basically we\u2019ve been playing music and Atreyu has been a band for fifteen plus years, not counting the hiatus maybe, or round there so I\u2019ve pretty much been to most places. Nothing really new has come across my path, a couple of new European countries this past year like Slovenia, we\u2019ve never been to Slovenia but other than that I\u2019ve been there. I\u2019m still looking for new spots though\u2026<\/p>\n

What would be on your bucket list of things you want to do in Atreyu?<\/strong>
\nMan\u2026 you know, it\u2019s hard to say I don\u2019t set that kind of accomplishments, I want our next record to come out and be something really crazy and a little bit different than \u2018Long Live\u2019 I\u2019ve got some ideas about different things that I think the band is gonna try. I think we all have some cool ideas and some cool directions we\u2019re gonna take. I don\u2019t know just more uncompromising stuff. As far as playing places man I don\u2019t know, I love Australia and I\u2019m not even trying to kiss ass, my bucket list would see me doing a three month Australian tour we\u2019ll play literally everywhere.<\/p>\n

Do it, come down for a residency\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* We\u2019ll do a month in every city, they\u2019d have to be really small shows though. No more than five people, max.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let\u2019s look ahead to the future, finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2016 the one thing Atreyu wants to do is\u2026<\/strong>
\nRock.<\/p>\n

Thanks for your time, Alex and we\u2019ll see down here very soon.<\/strong>
\nThank you so much, I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Catch Atreyu in Australia with Bullet For My Valentine and Cane Hill at the following dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

THURSDAY 20th OCTOBER – Metro City, Perth (18+)<\/strong><\/p>\n

FRIDAY 21st OCTOBER – HQ, Adelaide (Lic. A\/A)<\/strong><\/p>\n

MONDAY 24th OCTOBER –\u00a0170 Russell, Melbourne (18+)<\/strong><\/p>\n

TUESDAY 25th OCTOBER – 170 Russell, Melbourne (18+) –<\/strong>\u00a0SOLD OUT!<\/strong><\/p>\n

THURSDAY 27th OCTOBER – Big Top, Sydney (Lic A\/A)<\/strong><\/p>\n

FRIDAY 28th OCTOBER – Eatons Hill, Brisbane (Lic A\/A)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets on sale now via\u00a0<\/strong>tickets.destroyalllines.com<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented by: triple j’s The Racket and Destroy All Lines & Chugg Entertainment<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> Orange County, CA, USA<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Dan Jacobs – Guitar, Porter McKnight – Bass, Travis Miguel – Guitar, Brandon Saller – Drums\/Vocals, Alex Varkatzas – Vocals<\/p>\n

Website:\u00a0<\/strong> http:\/\/www.atreyuofficial.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Long Live \u2013 (Out Now – Spinefarm Records)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n